Outreach programme at Vissanji Academy, AndheriAs a part of an annual science fair function of Lady Vissanji Academy, Centre actively participated in the science fair function by organizing a workshop based on hand-on science experiments on 30th November, 2018. About 235 students and teachers participated in the workshop. During the workshop, 5 set of science models/experiments were made by the participants. Apart from the workshop, some demo exhibits were also kept on display by the centre during the fair.

Coastwise 2018-19 – celebrating the coasts of MaharashtraCoastwise 2018-19 – celebrating the coasts of Maharashtra, a unique marine-themed festival kicked off on Saturday, 1 December 2018, with an intertidal Photography Workshop and Competition. An initiative of the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra, WWF-India, and Marine Life of Mumbai, Coastwise 2018-19 aims to generate public awareness about the striking, mysterious and indisputably essential marine flora and fauna of the Maharashtra region.Nehru Science Centre was the venue partner for this programme.The Intertidal Photography Workshop and Competition offers the general public to join in on an expedition into this secret world of sea creatures and explore new perspectives through the lens of a camera. The Workshop was successfully conducted at Nehru Science Centre, Worli. A total of 53 participants attended the workshop. Resource persons including eminent wildlife photographer Mr. Kedar Bhide, Marine Biologist with the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra - Mr. Harshal Karve and talented wildlife photographer and member of the Marine Life of Mumbai Mr. Gaurav Patil, trained the participants in the ethics and techniques for marine wildlife photography and the do's and don'ts when on field. About 225 participants participated in the programme.

Centre Level Quiz on Life & Works of Mahatma GandhiTo commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Centre Level Quiz on Life & Works of Mahatma Gandhi was organised at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai on 3rd December, 2018. The quiz was conducted in 2 levels - Written Screening Round and Verbal Rounds. For this quiz, 18 schools registered but 32 students from the following 16 schools actually appeared for the written screening round. There were 20 multiple choices questions based on Life & Works of Mahatma Gandhi for the written round.Out of the 16 schools, 5 schools were selected on the basis of merit for the Verbal Round. The qualifying school names are as follows:1. St. Ignitius High School, Sat Rasta, Mumbai2. St. Xavier High School, Borivali, (E) Mumbai3.. Atomic Energy Central School 5, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai4. Sanmitra Mandal Vidyamandir, Goregaon, Mumbai5. Children’s Academy, Ashok Nagar, KandivaliFor the verbal quiz, 4 verbal rounds were conducted (2 general and 2 visual). Out of these 5 teams following 3 teams won 1st , 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively. 1st Prize: Atomic Energy Central School, 5 Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai2nd Prize: St. Xavier’s high School, Borivali (East), Mumbai3rd Prize: Children’s Academy, Ashok Nagar, Kandivali(East), MumbaiShri S. M. Khened, Director, NSCM gave away the prizes and certificates to the winners and also participation certificates to all the participating teams. The team grabbing the 1st place, Atomic Energy Central School 5, Anushakti Nagar was declared qualified to participate in the National Level Contest to be held at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata during 29th– 30thJanuary, 2019.About 60 teachers, parents and students witnessed the quiz programme.

Inauguration of the exhibition “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World”.The year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu, the Great Influenza, a pandemic that took the lives of millions of people around the world. To mark the pandemic centenary, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), USA, has curated an exhibition, “Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World,”. To create worldwide awareness, Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), USA, who is taking NMNH’s outbreak exhibition worldwide, in collaboration with NSC, Mumbai has organised this exhibition at Centre. The exhibition was inaugurated on 5th December, 2018 by Dr. Zarir Udwadia, Prolific Researcher & Renowned Physician in the august presence of Dr. Ashish K. Jha, Dean for Global Strategy & K.T. Li Professor of Global Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health & Director, Harvard Global Health Institute, USA. About 325 visitors attended the inaugural programme and visited the exhibition. The exhibition is on display for the visitors.

Aviation Day The Centre in collaboration with Aeronautical Society of India, Mumbai Branch organised Aviation Day programme on 8th December, 2018. Contests like Inter-school Aviation Quiz, Aviation Elocution Contests on the topics ‘is use of Al(Artificial Intelligence)safe for Civil Aviation?’ and ‘Should Government spend money in promoting Space programme’.Aviation Problem Solving Contest was also organised on the 3 topics viz. “ How to reduce ill effects of Long Haul flights on human health?”, How to ensure that Safety and Security go hand in hand in Aviation Operations?” In aviation quiz, 116 students from 29 schools , in Elocution, 23 students from 23 schools and in problem solving, 42 students from 14 schools participated. In addition to all these contests, special workshop on Boomrang workshop was also organised for the students in which 225 students and teachers participated. in all about 280 students, teachers, parents and members of Aeronautical Society of India participated in the programme.

Semi-final rounds of Inter-school Science Quiz Contest (English Medium)2 Semi-final rounds of the Inter-school Science Quiz Contest were conducted at the Centre on 5th and 8th December, 2018 in which 32 students from 8 schools participated. Out of the 8 teams, 4 teams were selected for the grand finale to be organised in January, 2019.

Avishkar – An Inter-collegiate Science QuizCentre in collaboration with CHM college, organised Avishkar- An Inter-collegiate Science Quiz Contest at the Centre. The contest was organised in 2 parts, on 7th December, 2018, written elimination round on gallery exhibits and the audio visual rounds were organised to select the teams for the oral rounds. 50 students from 25 science colleges participated in the written & audio visual rounds. The final round of the Avishkar quiz was organised on 21st December, 2018 in which 8 students from 4 teams participated. In addition to the general science and technology rounds, Escape the Dynamite, google-doodle, a scientist within you rounds were conducted. Prizes and Certificates to the winners and the participants were given by Shri S. M. Khened, Director, NSCM. Special science shows on Liquid Nitrogen were also organised for the audience and participants. In all 325 students and teachers witnessed the quiz and the science shows.

A temporary Exhibition - Nobel Prize – 2018 Every year 10 December is commemorated as the Death Anniversary of Alfred Nobel. Nobel laureates receive their prizes from the Swedish King – a Nobel diploma, a medal, and 9 million Swedish kronor per prize. To mark this event a new temporary exhibition ‘Nobel Prize 2018’ was developed at the Centre and informally opened for the public on 10th December 2018 at the centre.

Western India Science FairThe Western India Science Fair was organized at Centre during 12th – 15thDecember, 2018with active support from Education Departments of Govt. of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Department of Science & Technology, Rajasthan. Dr.Bal Phondke, Ex-Director, National Institute of Science Communication, Mumbai inaugurated the Fair on 12thDecember, 2018 and also enlightened the students. In all 89students and teachers participated in the Fair with 29 student projects and 15 teaching aids. These projects/teaching aids were on display during the Western India Science Fair 2017-2018. Prof.Kannan M Moudgalya, Department of Chemical Engineering Education Technology, System & Control Engineering, IIT, Bombay was the Chief Guest for Valediction and prize distribution function on 15th December, 2018. He enlightened the participants and also gave away the prizes and certificates.Besides the display of students projects and teaching aids, the participants were also exposed to various activities of Nehru Science Centre such as sky observation programme, science demonstration lectures, 3-D film show, Spark Theatre, Science on Sphere, Science Odyssey, etc. Special shows on Liquid Nitrogen & Fun Science were also arranged for the participants. Apart from these stalls of Educational Resource material were also set up in the fair. More than 6000 visitors including students, teachers and the public visited the science fair.

Science Film FestivalThe science film festival was organised at the Centre during 11th– 16th December, 2018 for the students and general public in collaboration with Goethe Institut, Mumbai. During the period 23 films shows were organised in which 1356 students from 21 schools participated. The films like how do plants feed themselves, The show with the mouse, Butterflies, My Genome Sequence were screened.

Workshops for Special Children4 one day workshops for the special children were organised at the Centre during 10th – 14th December, 2018 in collaboration with Bombay International School, Jay Vakil School and Sevasadan special children school. The participants were given hands-on activities for making Fish in the bowl, Slime, Rotocopter, Woodpecker, Centre of Gravity etc. They were also shown science demonstrations. In all 190 students and teachers participated.

Outreach programme of Innovation hub for underprivileged children A workshop on Creative Thinking was conducted at the RameshwarVidyamandir, Santacruz for 49 underprivileged students and 2 teachers on 16th December, 2018. They solved brain teasers, puzzles and also had some hands-on activities. They made simple science toys such as balance toy and toy based on the persistence of vision.

Times LitFest at Mehboob studiosThe Centre participated in the Times LitFest 2018 which was held at Mehboob Studios, Bandra during December 14-16, 2018. The main theme of the Fest was ‘Waternamah’. The Centre had displayed 2 exhibits relevant to the theme – Magic Water Tap and VR exhibit – Fish Pond in the exhibition. As a precursor event, we had organized 2 contests in the month of October 2018- Slogan Writing and Poster Making contest. The winners of these contests were awarded prizes during the LitFest 2018 at the hands of Mr Rajendra Singh, the Waterman of India.

National Mathematics DayNational Mathematics Day was organised at the Centre from 20-22 December 2018 to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of renowned Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan As a part of this commemoration, on 20th December, an Exhibition of Mathematics Toys, puzzles and Teaching Aids was on display in the ‘Science for Children’ Gallery. 1251 students & teachers visited the exhibition by actively participated in the construction of various puzzles and won attractive prizes. A popular talk on ‘Fun with Mathematics’ was also arranged for 250 students and teachers. The talk was delivered by Shri Umesh Kumar, Curator &Head, Education Cell, NSC, Mumbai. The talk was followed by a Written Mathematics Quiz Contest on the theme ‘General mathematics’ for High School students in which 40 students participated. Also a workshop on the fabrication of Teaching Aids (Mathematics made simple) was organised for 30 B.Ed. College students. On this very occasion 2 special film shows on ‘Life & Works of Srinivasa Ramanujan’ were screened for 120 students.

On 21st December 2018, programmes started with Mathematics Puzzle Solving Contest in which 29 students took part. A two days workshop on fabrication of Mathematics teaching aids was organised for B. ED. College students and school teachers. 32 teachers fabricated 10 Mathematics kits viz: measure of 3 angles of a triangle is 1800, To find the value of Pi, Model to express area of a circle in terms of area of rectangle, verification of Pythagoras Theorem and a kit to show (A+B)2 = A2 +2AB +B2. Exhibition on Mathematics toys and teaching aids was also on display for the whole day. About 1021 students, teachers and general public visited the exhibition.On 22nd December also, exhibition on Mathematics toys and teaching aids was on display. About 1290 students, teachers and general public visited the exhibition and actively participated in solving the puzzles and the other hands-on activities like making Soma cube, Brahma’s tower, etc. An Elocution Contest on topic ‘Mathematics in Ancient India’ was organized in which 5 students participated and expressed their thoughts on the given topic. 50 students, teachers and parents were present on the occasion. To culminate the event, a popular was organised. Shri Umesh Kumar, Sr. Curator, NSC, Mumbai delivered the talk ‘Mathematics in day to day life’. The talk was followed by valediction & prize distribution function. The prizes were given away by Shri Umesh Kumar, Curator, NSCM. 55 students, teachers and parents attended the programmes.The programme was catalysed and supported by National Council of Science & Technology Communication, Govt. of India & Rajiv Gandhi Science & Technology Commission, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Arduino workshop at the Innovation HubA 3 day workshop on Arduino based platform was conducted at the Innovation Hub during 25th – 27th December, 2018 for 10 participants. Students learnt the basics of Arduino UNO programming and learnt about the how other components such as proximity sensors, movement detecting sensors can be connected to the Arduino platform to achieve various tasks. Students were given exposure on they can use the knowledge for addressing several everyday problems.

Drone Workshops2 one day workshops on Drones were conducted at the Innovation Hub during the month. On 28th December 2018, workshop for 13 students from K J Somaiya College of Engineering and Information Technology, Sion, Mumbai was organized at the Innovation Hub. On 29th December 2018 another workshop for Innovation Hub students was organized. The students were given exposure to the 4 basic forces acting on any flying object and about the control surfaces which control the flight. The students also learnt about the components of a drone and their functions. Using Flight Simulator they learnt the basics of flight manoeuvring and learnt how to fly drones.

National Geographic – Photo ExhibitionNational Geographic (NG) in collaboration with Nehru Science Centre has put up a photo exhibition at the centre which features the result of the 3 photo camps that National Geographic team conducted in the past few months at Banbasa, Chennai and Kolkata. This exhibition is opened for the visitors on 28th Dec 2018 at the centre.

Visits of Underprivileged Children Under the initiatives from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, to encourage the visits of underprivileged students to the Centre and as per the directives received from DG office, a new scheme for a free visit of underprivileged students to the centre and its facilities was introduced in this month. The scheme was announced to the NGOs/ groups working for the education of underprivileged children through our website and social media. We received an encouraging response. During the month, visits of 1892 underprivileged students and teachers from 19 institutes / NGOs were organized. They were given exposure to the various facilities at the centre under this scheme. Guided tour to the galleries, Science Odyssey show, 3D science show, Science on a Sphere show and Science Shows were organised for these children. They were also provided refreshments.

Mobile Science Exhibition in Kolhapur District2nd phase of Mobile Science Exhibition(MSE) on curriculum based has been organized in the schools of Kolhapur district from 20th November, 2018. During the month, the MSE bus has covered 17 sites. In addition to the exhibition, science shows and science film shows were also organized.

Package TourDuring the month, the Centre has extended the facility of package tour on advance booking for 6556 students and teachers of 38 schools. Apart from Science Odyssey, Science on a Sphere and 3D shows, they were given guided tour of the galleries, science shows, visits to innovation hub and spark theatre shows were also organized.